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TIL the concept of "checkmate" originates from the Persian phrase "Shāh Māt," meaning "the king is helpless" or "the king is defeated."

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xrDb TIL that in 1953, Coca Cola attempted to persuade the US Treasury to mint a 7.5 cent coin; a can of Coke had been a nickel since 1886 and needed to be raised due to inflation, but they felt a dime was too much.
8aR4G TIL In 1929 hockey player Eddie Shore, after missing his train, drove 350 miles through a blizzard to a game. The car's chains broke twice, the wipers broke, he removed the top half of the windshield, and crashed into a ditch. He still made it and scored the game's only goal.
bOlj TIL: That the CIA captured random American citizens, tortured them, tested on them, and more, all illegally.
Qg0d TIL Sesame Street’s Count Von Count’s counting obsession come from a traditional vampire myths that depicts vampires as having a fixation with counting small objects. In the myth, the fixation often provides a means of distracting them by tossing a handful of seeds or salt on the ground.
KYQPE TIL that in 1972 a meteor entered earth's athmosphere just 57km over Utah, travelling northwards at 15km/s and left it again over Alberta, creating the "1972 Great Daylight Fireball". And there's a crazy f ing video of it.